The nightmare that was Spider-man 3 turn things upside down and it all seemed like a 4th film wasn't going to happen.  Sony however continued to say that they are going to continue the franchise but even so, it was more then likely key players were not going to return as in, Sam Raimi, Toby Miguire and Kirsten Dunst.  Belive me though, not many people want Kirsten Dunst to return anyways, myself included.  All of this my change however. 

ComingSoon.net caught up with Sam Raimi and he seemed like he's still very much interested saying, "James Vanderbilt is writing the script and I'm excited to read it.  I think it's going to be done in a few months.  I'm hoping it's as great as our discussions were about it and I'm hoping it feels right for me because I love Spider-Man.  If all of those things come together, I would love to do it.  There are a lot of unknowns about the future."  It's well known that studio involvment force on Raimi for Spider-Man 3 cause basically the film to really suck bad but if a 4th film is going to be made, the suits better have learned their lesson.  Raimi also touched on the issues of re-casting because there have been many rumors through out that none of the cast is returning.  "I'd hate to re-cast anybody in the future, I can't imagine that," he said.

On another note, don't be fooled on how Spider-Man 3 turned out.  Raimi is an amazing director and just because he was handed a really retarded script and the studio forced him to put venom in the film doesn't mean he's a bad director.  The guy has skills director's only wish they had.  Either way, if Raimi decided to move on from the franchise, I wouldn't blame him and I'd be fine with another director as long as he's a director with experience.

-Phil